EDINBURG, Texas – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents are utilizing small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) to assist with border apprehensions.
Saturday morning, McAllen agents working in Mission, Texas, requested the assistance of the sUAS team to help search for several subjects who ran into dense brush after illegally entering the United States. Upon deployment, the sUAS team located the group and guided the agents. Agents arrested 16 illegal aliens.
That same night, agents working near Mission, Texas, observed several subjects walking away from the Rio Grande after making landfall onto the U.S. riverbank. Due to the large number of subjects observed, agents requested the assistance of the sUAS team. Upon arrival and deployment, the sUAS team located and guided the agents to 14 subjects. Agents identified the subjects as illegal aliens and took them into custody.
Over the weekend, agents arrested 67 illegal aliens in six separate sUAS deployments.
Border Patrol processed all subjects accordingly.
Since the program’s inception, sUAS teams have been credited with assisting agents in more than 1500 apprehensions in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. The sUAS ability to be deployed quickly and quietly gives agents the upper hand in combating human and drug smuggling attempts.
The public is encouraged to take a stand against crime in their communities and report suspicious activity at 800-863-9382.
Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation. The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.
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